What happened to the famous German generals like Gotthard Heinrici after the war? Did they all go to prison or die in battle?


 It is a common belief that all the best military men of German origin in the world war two are dead in the war or those who survived were executed at the war ending. But this is not really true. Some of them in fact lived very long and passed peacefully as old men.

I have got a story about Gotthard Heinrici. He was an excellent protector of his men. By April 1945, thousands of big guns were prepared by the Russian army to be thrown into the German front line. Heinrici realized that his men could not stay there in their posts as they would all be killed within a short time. His commands declared that he should not ever pull back. Instead, he decided to rescue his men.


He silently withdrew his entire army some two kilometers a few hours previous to the commencement of the firing by the Russians. When those shells at last have landed, they struck only empty space and empty holes. His troops were secure still farther on. He rescued thousands of lives on that day. He was captured by the British after the war and released in the year 1948. Thereafter he led a very simple and quiet life. He died in 1971 at 84 years old.


Then there is Karl Donitz. It is he who momentarily took over as the leader of Germany when Hitler had passed away. He served a ten year jail sentence. He went out and settled in a small village leading a normal quiet life. He passed away in 1980 and was nearly 90 years old.

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